It is a report US public companies must file when a material event occurs — an acquisition, an executive departure, a major agreement, a delisting notice. It is the company's own account, filed with the regulator, rather than a summary of it.
Companies report quarterly and annually, but significant events do not wait for the calendar. The 8-K covers what happens in between, and is usually due within four business days.
Each 8-K is tagged with an item number identifying the category, which is why one filing can be routine and the next serious.
A press release chooses what to emphasise. A filing is made to the regulator, often with the underlying agreement attached as an exhibit.
Terms that do not appear in a headline — what a deal actually pays, what happens if it fails, what a departing executive is owed — are frequently in the exhibit.
An 8-K announcing an auditor change, a delisting notice, or that previous financial statements should no longer be relied upon carries very different weight from one announcing a routine appointment.
The item number tells you which kind you are looking at before you read a word.
All filings are public on the SEC's EDGAR system, free, and searchable by company. The company's own words are available to every reader at the same time.
This is often the difference between knowing what happened and knowing what someone said about what happened.
One question, no account: what did you come here for, and did you find it? A person reads these, and they shape what gets written next.
From StockMotive — the honest why behind every market move. Educational information only, not investment advice.